Life, 1928-11-16 · page 33 of 44
Life — November 16, 1928 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This dialogue-driven cartoon satirizes young women who claim to have moral "ideals" about necking (kissing/petting), a common dating practice in the 1920s. The female character, Sue, repeatedly insists she won't neck casually and positions herself as principled—yet her argument becomes circular and self-contradictory, revealing the performance of virtue rather than genuine conviction. The satire targets Sue's narcissism: she frames her refusal to neck as special sensitivity, expects admiration for it, and keeps circling back to how unique and misunderstood she is. The male character's responses ("Yeah, you bet!") suggest he's merely agreeing to flatter her, not genuinely listening. The joke is that Sue's elaborate moral posturing masks vanity. By modern standards, this mocks performative femininity and the social pressure on women to balance appearing desirable while claiming sexual restraint—a contradiction the cartoon exposes through her exhausting self-repetition.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ry Acco ine ada ida’ s for rners if he The Idealist sus: Don't you think you meet loads of people who don’t understand you, sort of? He: Oh, yeah—absolutely! Sue: | mean I know heaps of boys, f'r instance, who think I'm terribly queer because I don’t neck, because I mean they say all the other girls they know do, do ou know what I mean? He: Yeah, you bet! Sue: I mean they simply don’t under- sand me because I've sort of got ideals about things like that. He: Well, they have a lot of respect for you, just the same, though. Sue: I don’t think they have—I mean I really don’t, my dear, because I actually think they just think I’m awfully dif'rent from other girls and kind of peculiar or something because I don’t neck. He: Well, there's a lot of guys who don’t understand a girl who fay ideals because so few girls have ’em nowadays. Sue: I s'pose that's it, isn’t it? But I can’t understand these girls who just let anybody neck them because I mean un- less I cared for the person, sort of, it wouldn't mean anything. He: You're darn right. Sut: Do you really think I am? He: Yeah, you bet. But, b'lieve me, darn few girls have those ideals about necking. Sue: Well, it isn’t that I’m a prude about it or anything only I just simply can’t bear it unless the person's someone I think’s awfully attractive and under- stands my point of view about it and all, do you know what I mean? He: Yeah, you bet! Sue: I mean I don’t think there's anything wrong about necking but I just think it's awfully sordid, sort of, to let anybody neck you. He: Yeah, you said it! Sue: Gosh, I'm terribly glad you think I'm right about it and I Aonestly think you're one of the few people who really understand how I feel because I mean you sort of appreciate anybody with ideals about things like that. He: Sure—I think it’s great for a girl to have ideals. Sut: Well, you don’t know how simply marvelous it is to meet somebody hike you who actually understands how a girl feels about things like that because I mean I simply won't let anybody neck me who thinks I’m like these other girls who just let anybody neck them because I mean unless the person respects you for your ideals about things like that I think ®'s just a terribly sordid performance, my éear—I mean I actually do! Lloyd Mayer. WILL IT BE WORTH IT? Avo pitiful figures: the Scotchman who has just been notified that a collect tele- gam awaits him. HOUD Seriously: as one car owner to another... There is really something to all this excite- ment about riding comfort. The Houdaille hydraulic double-acting principle of spring control made obsolete all former ideas of riding comfort. If Houdailles were made of Glass instead of drop-forged steel everybody could easily see what makes them deliver such amazing riding luxury. Hydraulic, they automatically and instantly adjust their resist- ance to the size of the bumps and the speed you drive. Double-Acting: they not only check blanket-tossing recoil but they absorb the shocks that make springs strike bottom. If you want comfort for yourself and the folks who ride on the back seat investigate Houdailles. The Houdaille Dis- tributor will be glad to take you for a ride in a Houdaille equipped car. Also, there’s a young lady right here who is all set to type your name on a Houdaille booklet just for you, if you will mail the coupon. HOUDE ENGINEERING Standard equipment on: Lincoln, Ford, Pierce- Arrow, Nash Advanced Six, Jordan, Stearns- Buffalo, New York Knight, Cunningham, and 33 European cars, i le-A ILLE CORP.—Dept. L11 337 E. Delavan Avenue Please type my name on the Houd- aille booklet," What I Didn't Know iT rg in; SHOCK ABSORBERS comicbooks.com